Grover Cleveland Alexander

At 63 years old, Grover Cleveland Alexander has this physical status:

Cleveland Alexander (February 26, 1887 – November 4, 1950), known as "Old Pete" in the United States Major League Baseball, was an American Major League baseball pitcher.

He played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and the St. Louis Cardinals from 1911 to 1930.

In 1938, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Early life

Alexander was born in Elba, Nebraska, in the first term of President Grover Cleveland and was one of 13 children.

Alexander played semi-professional baseball in his youth, before committing his first professional contract in 1907 at age 20, which was priced at $50 per month ($1,454 in modern dollar terms). He played for the Galesburg Boosters in the Class D Illinois–Missouri League in 1909 and finished 15–8 that year with a 1.36 ERA. He was almost done when he was struck by a thrown ball while base running. Despite the fact that he came to an end in 1909, he returned to play for the Syracuse Stars in the Class B New York State League by 1910, finishing with a 29–11 record before being sold to the Philadelphia Phillies for $750 ($21,812) in new dollar terms.

Later life and legacy

Alexander continued to play baseball through the 1960s and early 1940s, serving as a player-coach for the Grover Cleveland Alexander's House of David Team. J. L. Wilkinson supervised the team's tour and often played against the Kansas City Monarchs. Alexander performed with and against many of the Negro league stars of the day, including Satchel Paige, John Donaldson, Newt Joseph, Chet Brewer, and Andy Cooper. Alexander operated a tavern in St. Louis with Hughie Miller as his partner after prohibition ended.

In 1938, Alexander was elected to the Hall of Fame in baseball's third year. Alexander was the only one elected that year.

At Yankee Stadium, where Alexander saw the Phillies lose to the Yankees in Game 3 of the 1950 World Series. He died less than a month later, in St. Paul, Nebraska, at the age of 63. He is buried in St Paul's Elmwood Cemetery.

Alexander was the subject of the 1952 biographical film The Winning Team, starring Ronald Reagan, giving Alexander the distinction of being named for one US president and then being depicted by another. In 1952, the film attracted an estimated $1.7 million at the North American box office.

In 1999, he ranked 12th on the Sports News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and he was a member of the Major League Baseball All-Centure Team. The block-letter "P" from the 1915 season uniforms was retired by the team in 2001 to honor his service with them, but he didn't play before the Phillies adopted uniform numbers.

Alexander is the first name in Ogden Nash's poem Line-Up for Yesterday.

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Major League Baseball career

Alexander made his Philadelphia Phillies debut in the pre-season 1911 City Series by tossing five innings of no-hit, no-run baseball against the Athletics. He made his official Major League debut on April 15. Bill Killefer, who went on to become Alexander's favorite battery mate, appeared on the Phillies this year, winning 250 percent of his games.

Alexander led the league with 28 victories (a modern-day rookie record), 31 complete games, 367 innings pitched, and seven shutouts, while seventh in strikeouts and fourth in ERA. Alexander played in the league four times (1912, 1914, 1920, and 1920), winning five times (1914-1917, 1920), and shut outs five times (1915, 1919, 1921). He won the National League pitching Triple Crown in 1915, 1916, and 1920, and is often credited with a fourth in 1917. He was instrumental in the Philadelphia Phillies' first pennant, pitching a record five one-hitters and winning his first Major League triple crown in 1915. Alexander began to have alcohol problems, which would plague him for the remainder of his life. He won his first World Series game (the first game of the series) for the Phillies in 1915. It's likely that the Phillies won another World Series game in 65 years.

The Phillies traded Alexander and catcher Bill Killefer to the Cubs for catcher Pickles Dillhoefer, pitcher Mike Prendergast, and $60,000. "I needed the money," Phillies owner William Baker later confessed.

Alexander was drafted into the Army in World War I and married Amy Marie Arrants in Manhattan, Kansas, one month before shipping out (the couple divorced in 1929, remarried in 1931, and divorced again in 1941).

Alexander served in France for the majority of the 1918-19th Field Artillery Regiment, 89th Division. He was serving in France when he was exposed to German mustard gas and a shell exploded near him, causing partial hearing loss and triggering epilepsy. Alexander returned to the United States on the SS Rochambeau in April 1919. Following Alexander's return from war, he suffered from shell shock and was plagued with epileptic seizures, which many mistakenly for drunkendom; this only exacerbated his drinking problem.

Despite all this, Alexander spent many years in Chicago and won another pitching triple crown in 1920. The Cubs sold him to the Cardinals in the middle of the 1926 season, despite his increasing alcoholism and insubordination that was often traced to his epilepsy. "I'd rather it was without him" the Cubs' manager, Joe McCarthy, reportedly said after Alexander, that the Cubs had finished last season under Alexander."

In the World Series, the Cardinals won the National League pennant that year and met the New York Yankees, where Alexander pitched complete game victories in Games 2 and 6. Alexander became inebriated that night and was already feeling the consequences after being sent out to pitch next day in Game 7, according to teammate Bob O'Farrell of The Glory of Their Times. With the Cardinals up 3–2, Jesse Haines, who exploded in a blister, Alexander came to the game in the seventh inning. Tony Lazzeri, a screaming Yankee, was slugged out and then the Yankees won the game and gave St. Louis the championship. Babe Ruth threatened to take second base in the final game of the 7th game.

In 1927, he had his last 20-win seasons for the Cardinals, but his time in the league was cut short due to his continued drinking. He left the major leagues after a brief return to the Phillies in 1930.

Alexander's 90 shutouts are a National League record, and his 373 victories tie for first in the National League, beating Christy Mathewson for first place. He is currently tied for third place in wins, tenth in innings pitched (5190), second in shutouts, and eighth in hits allowed (4868). The news media announced that Alexander had broken Mathewson's career record of 372. Mathewson was discovered to have won a second time in the 1940s (May 21, 1912), but his total standings had risen to 373 and a tie with Alexander. Alexander had a winning percentage of.642 for his lifetime, compared to Mathewson's.665. Alexander has the most victories of any pitcher who hasn't thrown a no-hitter.

Alexander was a good fielding pitcher during his time, making only 25 errors in 1,633 total chances for a career with a.985 fielding percentage. He hit 378 runs in 1,810 at-bats for a.209 batting average, 163 runs batted in, 154 runs, and 77 bases on balls in his 20-year career as a hitter.

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